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Mourning Jewelry
Mourning is the new black…
The tradition of Victorian mourning jewelry began with Queen Victoria after the death of her husband, Prince Albert. Without photography, mementos of personal remembrance were used to honor the dead so that their loved ones could commemorate their memory and keep their spirits close. Ashes were placed within rings, and necklaces were made out of hair, and the concept of death photography, small portraitures of the deceased, were often encased behind glass. Mourning jewelry became a fashion statement as much as a way to cope with grief, and as their pain evolved over the years, so did their jewelry.
But what about the sadness and the memories that they kept close to them at all times? The death-day visions and the reoccurring nightmares? Wytovich explores the horror that breeds inside of the lockets, the quiet terror that hides in the center of the rings. Her collection shows that mourning isn’t a temporary state of being, but rather a permanent sickness, an encompassing disease. Her women are alive and dead, lovers and ghosts. They live in worlds that we cannot see, but that we can feel at midnight, that we can explore at three a.m.
Wytovich shows us that there are hearts to shadows and pulses beneath the grave. To her, Mourning Jewelry isn’t something that you wear around your neck. It’s not fashion or a trend. It’s something that you carry inside of you, something that no matter how much it screams, that you can just can’t seem to let out.
The tradition of Victorian mourning jewelry began with Queen Victoria after the death of her husband, Prince Albert. Without photography, mementos of personal remembrance were used to honor the dead so that their loved ones could commemorate their memory and keep their spirits close. Ashes were placed within rings, and necklaces were made out of hair, and the concept of death photography, small portraitures of the deceased, were often encased behind glass. Mourning jewelry became a fashion statement as much as a way to cope with grief, and as their pain evolved over the years, so did their jewelry.
But what about the sadness and the memories that they kept close to them at all times? The death-day visions and the reoccurring nightmares? Wytovich explores the horror that breeds inside of the lockets, the quiet terror that hides in the center of the rings. Her collection shows that mourning isn’t a temporary state of being, but rather a permanent sickness, an encompassing disease. Her women are alive and dead, lovers and ghosts. They live in worlds that we cannot see, but that we can feel at midnight, that we can explore at three a.m.
Wytovich shows us that there are hearts to shadows and pulses beneath the grave. To her, Mourning Jewelry isn’t something that you wear around your neck. It’s not fashion or a trend. It’s something that you carry inside of you, something that no matter how much it screams, that you can just can’t seem to let out.
122 pages, Audible Audio
First published May 6, 2014
3 people are currently reading
478 people want to read
About the author
Stephanie M. Wytovich
76 books271 followersStephanie M. Wytovich is an American poet, novelist, and essayist. Her work has been featured in magazines and anthologies, such as Weird Tales, Nightmare Magazine, Southwest Review, Year's Best Hardcore Horror: Volume 2, and The Best Horror of the Year: Volumes 8 & 15.
Wytovich is the Poetry Editor for Raw Dog Screaming Press and an adjunct at Western Connecticut State University, Southern New Hampshire University, and Point Park University. She has received the Elizabeth Matchett Stover Memorial Award, the 2021 Ladies of Horror Fiction Writers Grant, and the Rocky Wood Memorial Scholarship for nonfiction writing.
Wytovich is a member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Poetry Association, an active member of the Horror Writers Association, and a graduate of Seton Hill University’s MFA program for Writing Popular Fiction. She is a two-time Bram Stoker Award-winning poet, and her nonfiction craft book for speculative poetry, Writing Poetry in the Dark, is available from Raw Dog Screaming Press. Readers can pick up her latest project, Howl: An Anthology of Werewolves from Women in Horror, co-edited with Lindy Ryan, now from Black Spot Books.
Follow Wytovich at https://www.stephaniemwytovich.com/ and on Twitter, Threads, and Instagram @SWytovich and @thehauntedbookshelf. You can also sign up for her newsletter at https://stephaniemwytovich.substack.com/.
Wytovich is the Poetry Editor for Raw Dog Screaming Press and an adjunct at Western Connecticut State University, Southern New Hampshire University, and Point Park University. She has received the Elizabeth Matchett Stover Memorial Award, the 2021 Ladies of Horror Fiction Writers Grant, and the Rocky Wood Memorial Scholarship for nonfiction writing.
Wytovich is a member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Poetry Association, an active member of the Horror Writers Association, and a graduate of Seton Hill University’s MFA program for Writing Popular Fiction. She is a two-time Bram Stoker Award-winning poet, and her nonfiction craft book for speculative poetry, Writing Poetry in the Dark, is available from Raw Dog Screaming Press. Readers can pick up her latest project, Howl: An Anthology of Werewolves from Women in Horror, co-edited with Lindy Ryan, now from Black Spot Books.
Follow Wytovich at https://www.stephaniemwytovich.com/ and on Twitter, Threads, and Instagram @SWytovich and @thehauntedbookshelf. You can also sign up for her newsletter at https://stephaniemwytovich.substack.com/.
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
December 19, 2018
4.5/5 stars!
This poetry collection, read to me by Lesley Ann Fogle, was like a dark and stormy night, but inside my brain.
Relentlessly dark and beautifully wrought, this volume speaks to the pain of being a woman, the pain of being done wrong by men, the joy in paying those wrongs back, (in spades), and a lot more.
"Yes, suffocation would be a blessing from a world where each breath I take reminds me that I'm alone. That the life I lived was a lie, and that the person that I loved was nothing more than a foul gust of air that moved through a hollow woman."
My favorites were SET THE WORLD ON FIRE, and XEROX HIS DEATH CERTIFICATE.
I'm discovering that it's difficult to review a poetry collection such as this. While trying to impart the depth of feeling and emotion evoked by these dark words and ideas, I find myself consistently coming up short. This is the third time I've tried to write this review and this time I'm just going to let my words stand.
If you like poetry, (hell, even if you don't), this collection is worth your time. Take it slow as I did, or race through it all at once-either way you're going to be affected by the experience. What exactly will that effect will be? I suspect it will be a highly individual-type thing, but for me? The experience was wonderful and I know I'll be revisiting MOURNING JEWELRY in the future.
Highly recommended!
*I received the audio of this book free from the author, in exchange for my honest feedback. This is it.*
This poetry collection, read to me by Lesley Ann Fogle, was like a dark and stormy night, but inside my brain.
Relentlessly dark and beautifully wrought, this volume speaks to the pain of being a woman, the pain of being done wrong by men, the joy in paying those wrongs back, (in spades), and a lot more.
"Yes, suffocation would be a blessing from a world where each breath I take reminds me that I'm alone. That the life I lived was a lie, and that the person that I loved was nothing more than a foul gust of air that moved through a hollow woman."
My favorites were SET THE WORLD ON FIRE, and XEROX HIS DEATH CERTIFICATE.
I'm discovering that it's difficult to review a poetry collection such as this. While trying to impart the depth of feeling and emotion evoked by these dark words and ideas, I find myself consistently coming up short. This is the third time I've tried to write this review and this time I'm just going to let my words stand.
If you like poetry, (hell, even if you don't), this collection is worth your time. Take it slow as I did, or race through it all at once-either way you're going to be affected by the experience. What exactly will that effect will be? I suspect it will be a highly individual-type thing, but for me? The experience was wonderful and I know I'll be revisiting MOURNING JEWELRY in the future.
Highly recommended!
*I received the audio of this book free from the author, in exchange for my honest feedback. This is it.*
July 26, 2014
Rawdog Screaming has a special poetry weapon and her name is Stephanie Wytovich. Her poems do more than haunt you. They crawl through your mind long after like spiders.
Some of my favorites as always. but there is only a few that I didn't care for.
-Asphyxiation
-Ballet of Knives
-Blackness
-Garden of Karma
-Naked for Neptune
-Pluck Me
-Sleeping Next To You
-Vines are in Her Wardrobe
My overall favorite is Tag You're It. if you read one poem this year let this be the one.
Some of my favorites as always. but there is only a few that I didn't care for.
-Asphyxiation
-Ballet of Knives
-Blackness
-Garden of Karma
-Naked for Neptune
-Pluck Me
-Sleeping Next To You
-Vines are in Her Wardrobe
My overall favorite is Tag You're It. if you read one poem this year let this be the one.
May 21, 2014
I wondered what Stephanie Wytovich would do as a follow up to her powerful debut poetry collection. HYSTERIA, with its themes of madness, violence and mental illness, was a shock to the system, electro-therapy in a book and it earned her a Bram Stoker nomination.
Many poets write in a similar style about the same themes for their whole careers and therefore each collection is similar to the last. Not so with MOURNING JEWELRY. The theme here is pain, loss and remembrance. The name is taken from the Victorian practice, used before photos were widely available, of carrying a keepsake to remember a dead loved one, such as a lock of hair.
Wytovich has found a new depth to her work in this collection that delves below the initial 6 feet that HYSTERIA explored. The tone is still dark but more complex moving past the initial impact to explore long term consequences from obsessions that carry beyond the grave. MOURNING JEWELRY is a haunting collection that proves there is more to Wytovich than just madness.
Note: I was involved in the publication of this book.
Many poets write in a similar style about the same themes for their whole careers and therefore each collection is similar to the last. Not so with MOURNING JEWELRY. The theme here is pain, loss and remembrance. The name is taken from the Victorian practice, used before photos were widely available, of carrying a keepsake to remember a dead loved one, such as a lock of hair.
Wytovich has found a new depth to her work in this collection that delves below the initial 6 feet that HYSTERIA explored. The tone is still dark but more complex moving past the initial impact to explore long term consequences from obsessions that carry beyond the grave. MOURNING JEWELRY is a haunting collection that proves there is more to Wytovich than just madness.
Note: I was involved in the publication of this book.
January 23, 2016
Although the poem this collection takes its title from is exquisite, the authors real ambition would be better reflected in something like "The ABC of Death" or "The Encyclopedia of Obsession". Short, sharp, mad and sweet, these poems have the feel of whispers, with a powerful cumulative effect. My picks are "Ballet of Knives", "Charon's Assistant", " Never Turn Off The Lights" and "Urns Make Me Drunk". Although "Xerox His Death Certificate" deserves mention for ingenuity.
July 21, 2014
I'm a fan of Ms. Wytovich's work already, and Mourning Jewelry certainly didn't disappoint. This is the type of poetry that has beautiful language, yes, but also has a grim iron skeleton to hang those pretty words on. Equal parts dark, sexy, heartwrenching, and honest, I'd recommend this to anybody who likes their poetry with teeth.
February 8, 2016
Dark poetry with amazingly vibrant images.
March 3, 2019
"No, it's not love, but it is something / and that something is painful, and I wish it would stop."
Mourning Jewelry is my third poetry collection from Stephanie Wytovich, and I loved it! Each of her collections has a theme, and it's always fun to be in that world for a bit. This book focuses on the horror involved with mourning, and I loved the absolute grimness of Mourning Jewelry.
This is a collection of about 100 poems, and I rated everything between 3.5⭐ to 5⭐, and there were so many great stories within these poems. Some were sad, some were funny, some were haunting - there was an excellent variety. I was thrilled that there was a Sylvia Plath-related poem in Mourning Jewelry. It fit in so well with the rest of the collection, and Sylvia Plath is the best.
My top 5 poems in Mourning Jewelry are Corpse Flower, Free My Soul, Jade Keeps the Rot Away, Sylvia, and Yellow Makes Her Quiver. These were all so gorgeous, and many of them were fairly gruesome. There's a lot of grief and pain here, and as always, I appreciate Stephanie's honesty in her writing.
I really connected with this collection, and I highly recommend it for someone wanting to dig into poetry about darkness and death written in a beautiful way. I saw Sylvia Plath's influence in this collection more so than the others, and it made me very happy. Sometimes it's just the vibe I need, and it was provided here. I love Stephanie's writing, and I highly recommend her collections. I know a lot more people have been wanting to get into horror poetry recently, and I think this could be a great one to start with. It's dark, inviting, and easy to understand, which is something I love about horror poetry.
Mourning Jewelry is my third poetry collection from Stephanie Wytovich, and I loved it! Each of her collections has a theme, and it's always fun to be in that world for a bit. This book focuses on the horror involved with mourning, and I loved the absolute grimness of Mourning Jewelry.
This is a collection of about 100 poems, and I rated everything between 3.5⭐ to 5⭐, and there were so many great stories within these poems. Some were sad, some were funny, some were haunting - there was an excellent variety. I was thrilled that there was a Sylvia Plath-related poem in Mourning Jewelry. It fit in so well with the rest of the collection, and Sylvia Plath is the best.
My top 5 poems in Mourning Jewelry are Corpse Flower, Free My Soul, Jade Keeps the Rot Away, Sylvia, and Yellow Makes Her Quiver. These were all so gorgeous, and many of them were fairly gruesome. There's a lot of grief and pain here, and as always, I appreciate Stephanie's honesty in her writing.
I really connected with this collection, and I highly recommend it for someone wanting to dig into poetry about darkness and death written in a beautiful way. I saw Sylvia Plath's influence in this collection more so than the others, and it made me very happy. Sometimes it's just the vibe I need, and it was provided here. I love Stephanie's writing, and I highly recommend her collections. I know a lot more people have been wanting to get into horror poetry recently, and I think this could be a great one to start with. It's dark, inviting, and easy to understand, which is something I love about horror poetry.
July 12, 2014
As a fan of Wytovich's first book, Hysteria, I was excited to immerse myself in another book of madness. Mourning Jewelry is a phenomenal collection of some of the best modern [horror] poetry I've read in recent years. The author has the unique ability to juxtapose a girlish innocence within the realm of a gruesome form of love and human devotion. It's worth the read just to see what I mean. One thing's for sure: I will never look at a woman's bra without considering it being lined with human flesh. Big win!
July 22, 2015
Loved this more than Charlie Manson loves fruit loops!! There is certain beauty in sadness, that only some of us get, and evidently Wytovich is one. Don't over analyze and try to figure out "what it's about" or "what it means", just enjoy the mood of melancholy she creates and the beauty of her word and you'll dig this as much as I do.
October 19, 2014
Who would've thought one person could think of so many ways to die and be consumed by death? This author, that's who.
I will be reviewing this collection in full for Star*Line and it will probably run with audio selections on Amazing Stories at some point.
I will be reviewing this collection in full for Star*Line and it will probably run with audio selections on Amazing Stories at some point.
October 29, 2015
This review appears in Issue 15 of Shroud Magazine.
During the Victorian era, people placed relics of the dead—often hair, teeth, and ashes—inside pieces of jewelry in order to keep their loved ones close. It is within the historical context of this macabre sentiment that Stephanie M. Wytovich’s new collection of poetry is set: “the concept of death photography, small portraitures of the deceased.” But as usual, this dark poetess traverses beyond the facets of the already grim backdrop of her theme and injects herself deeper: into the pain, the ash, the mourning itself—“the horror that breeds inside of the lockets”—into the very graves where the loved, and unloved, lie.
Not unlike the trend itself, and the ways in which people have come to cope with death and grief over time, Wytovich has evolved as a writer. Her voice strikes noirish notes in “A Match Made by the Devil,” and her use of line breaks in “Airless” to mimic the title belies her craft as a learned poet. She infuses morbid humor in pieces such as "Dare I Keep the Body."
Some of my favorite imagery appears in “Ballet of Knives,” where her voice comes across as unflinchingly confident—Wytovich often blurs the line between poetry and storytelling, and this story is told particularly well:
“The knives were her people now, those long, silver sticks of / metal that dove through the air and sliced failure like a practiced / balancoire.”
“Blackness” reads like the swan song of the collection, a perfect serenade to infinite, inescapable sadness—“I cringed at the minor-key / siren song it wailed in the / ink-spattered sky, poisoning / my eardrums with an inviting / brutality that blanketed / me in suffocation and / stabbed at my heart song”—but it was only the sixth poem of over a hundred, and since the collection is ordered alphabetically by title, its beautiful, haunting language and musings on the vast depths of grief seem to come too soon.
Wytovich slips easily between two guises throughout: in one, her voice is cold, calculated, evil—
"...I don't pretend
that I belong here—that I'm something other
than what I am—but I spread my wings
and stretch out my claws, the Devil's grin
on an angel's face...
...I don't pretend
that I belong here—that I'm something other
than what I am—but I eat men
and torture hearts until they break, wait until
they peel off their flesh to get away
from my touch.
And then I use their femurs like toothpicks,
crack open their pallor shells
and suck out the marrow like
Bergamot tea."
(from "Calcium")
—and in the other, soft, vulnerable, and often victimized.
"...I would walk journeys to calm the storm in your eyes...clear mountains and swim rivers to be with you...scale time, fight age, and battle death if you wanted me to ascend to love..." ("Falling, Rising into Love")
In between, she douses us in voodoo, vampires, widows feigning grief; self-cutting, witchcraft, murder, magic, madness, mayhem, and things that don’t have names. Personal favorites include "Fireflies Dance for the Souls of Heroes," "Free My Soul," "The Night's Lover," "The Primrose Path," "There are Voices in the Wind," and "Vines are in Her Wardrobe."
The title piece contains some undeniably memorable imagery; to say Wytovich is gifted is surely an understatement. Her muse is lavishly generous. If I had one critique, it would be to strip some of the longer prose pieces like "Corpse Flower” down and allow the striking visuals she creates with her poetry do the telling, as that’s where the real magic happens. Excellent collection—highly recommended.
During the Victorian era, people placed relics of the dead—often hair, teeth, and ashes—inside pieces of jewelry in order to keep their loved ones close. It is within the historical context of this macabre sentiment that Stephanie M. Wytovich’s new collection of poetry is set: “the concept of death photography, small portraitures of the deceased.” But as usual, this dark poetess traverses beyond the facets of the already grim backdrop of her theme and injects herself deeper: into the pain, the ash, the mourning itself—“the horror that breeds inside of the lockets”—into the very graves where the loved, and unloved, lie.
Not unlike the trend itself, and the ways in which people have come to cope with death and grief over time, Wytovich has evolved as a writer. Her voice strikes noirish notes in “A Match Made by the Devil,” and her use of line breaks in “Airless” to mimic the title belies her craft as a learned poet. She infuses morbid humor in pieces such as "Dare I Keep the Body."
Some of my favorite imagery appears in “Ballet of Knives,” where her voice comes across as unflinchingly confident—Wytovich often blurs the line between poetry and storytelling, and this story is told particularly well:
“The knives were her people now, those long, silver sticks of / metal that dove through the air and sliced failure like a practiced / balancoire.”
“Blackness” reads like the swan song of the collection, a perfect serenade to infinite, inescapable sadness—“I cringed at the minor-key / siren song it wailed in the / ink-spattered sky, poisoning / my eardrums with an inviting / brutality that blanketed / me in suffocation and / stabbed at my heart song”—but it was only the sixth poem of over a hundred, and since the collection is ordered alphabetically by title, its beautiful, haunting language and musings on the vast depths of grief seem to come too soon.
Wytovich slips easily between two guises throughout: in one, her voice is cold, calculated, evil—
"...I don't pretend
that I belong here—that I'm something other
than what I am—but I spread my wings
and stretch out my claws, the Devil's grin
on an angel's face...
...I don't pretend
that I belong here—that I'm something other
than what I am—but I eat men
and torture hearts until they break, wait until
they peel off their flesh to get away
from my touch.
And then I use their femurs like toothpicks,
crack open their pallor shells
and suck out the marrow like
Bergamot tea."
(from "Calcium")
—and in the other, soft, vulnerable, and often victimized.
"...I would walk journeys to calm the storm in your eyes...clear mountains and swim rivers to be with you...scale time, fight age, and battle death if you wanted me to ascend to love..." ("Falling, Rising into Love")
In between, she douses us in voodoo, vampires, widows feigning grief; self-cutting, witchcraft, murder, magic, madness, mayhem, and things that don’t have names. Personal favorites include "Fireflies Dance for the Souls of Heroes," "Free My Soul," "The Night's Lover," "The Primrose Path," "There are Voices in the Wind," and "Vines are in Her Wardrobe."
The title piece contains some undeniably memorable imagery; to say Wytovich is gifted is surely an understatement. Her muse is lavishly generous. If I had one critique, it would be to strip some of the longer prose pieces like "Corpse Flower” down and allow the striking visuals she creates with her poetry do the telling, as that’s where the real magic happens. Excellent collection—highly recommended.
December 30, 2015
Fantastic read, with a collection of both short and long poems, here are some of my favourites:
A Match Made by the Devil
As I Sit and Wonder
Consistent, Yet Deadly
End of the Line
Death Has its own Angels
Exception #1
Knot Undone
Let it Pour
Leviathan Swallows the Sun
Midnight Confessions of an Ex-Virgin
Mother Moon
MurderSex
Never Turn Off the Lights
Nightingale
Nine Years, Nine Months
Pandora's Box
Set the World on Fire
She's Worth the Chance of Death
They keep Dying
Zodiac Machine
A Match Made by the Devil
As I Sit and Wonder
Consistent, Yet Deadly
End of the Line
Death Has its own Angels
Exception #1
Knot Undone
Let it Pour
Leviathan Swallows the Sun
Midnight Confessions of an Ex-Virgin
Mother Moon
MurderSex
Never Turn Off the Lights
Nightingale
Nine Years, Nine Months
Pandora's Box
Set the World on Fire
She's Worth the Chance of Death
They keep Dying
Zodiac Machine
January 30, 2019
“There’s is something quite intoxicating about losing someone, even if that someone is yourself. In some ways it’s a release of pain, while in others, it’s an acceptance, a welcoming of the emptiness.”
I listened to this collection on Audible then poured over each poem using the Kindle version. The thematic gems of mythology, vampires, voodoo, Shakespeare, along with the author’s raw emotion make the collection shine.
My favorites are as follows: “Charon’s Assistant” seeks a little less responsibly from her boss, the Ferryman of Hades. “Daddy’s Little Gravedigger” excels at her job. In “Dare I Keep the Body,” a corpse becomes a comfort animal. “Drown Your Sorrows” becomes a coping mechanism. And a beautiful collection of tales of love gone seriously wrong: “His Kiss Brought Corpses,” “I Do,” “Pandora’s Box,” “Sick and Twisted Affair,” “The Primrose Path” (which features Ophelia), “Until the Sun Comes Up,” “Urns Make Me Drunk,” “When the Only Hope is Sacrifice,” and “Wedding Ring.”
I plan to revisit these lovely poems again and again using both the audio and written formats.
I listened to this collection on Audible then poured over each poem using the Kindle version. The thematic gems of mythology, vampires, voodoo, Shakespeare, along with the author’s raw emotion make the collection shine.
My favorites are as follows: “Charon’s Assistant” seeks a little less responsibly from her boss, the Ferryman of Hades. “Daddy’s Little Gravedigger” excels at her job. In “Dare I Keep the Body,” a corpse becomes a comfort animal. “Drown Your Sorrows” becomes a coping mechanism. And a beautiful collection of tales of love gone seriously wrong: “His Kiss Brought Corpses,” “I Do,” “Pandora’s Box,” “Sick and Twisted Affair,” “The Primrose Path” (which features Ophelia), “Until the Sun Comes Up,” “Urns Make Me Drunk,” “When the Only Hope is Sacrifice,” and “Wedding Ring.”
I plan to revisit these lovely poems again and again using both the audio and written formats.
December 4, 2021
A great collection of dark poetry. This is my first time picking up a book by Stephanie M. Wytovich. It didn't disappoint! Besides the lovely poems, the presentation of the book is beautiful. The cover artwork done by Steven Archer fits this collection perfectly.
I loved the haunting and at times really bleak outlook of the poems. Some poems where really relateble while other had me chuckling a quite a bit.
I'll definitely be further exploring Wytovich's works. I really enjoyed my time with this book.
Some of my favorite poems of this collection:
-Calcium.
-Charon's Assistant.
-Corpse Flower.
-Dare I keep the Body.
-Carlic Hangs Above Her Bed.
-Jade Keeps the Rot Away.
-Key to Heaven, Key to Hell.
-Leviathan Swallows the Sun.
-Naked for Neptune.
-Nine Years, Nine Months.
-Quartz Begins the Initiation.
-Ravens at Her Bedroom Window.
-Rest Among the Touches.
-There are Voices in the Wind.
-Zodiac Machine.
I loved the haunting and at times really bleak outlook of the poems. Some poems where really relateble while other had me chuckling a quite a bit.
I'll definitely be further exploring Wytovich's works. I really enjoyed my time with this book.
Some of my favorite poems of this collection:
-Calcium.
-Charon's Assistant.
-Corpse Flower.
-Dare I keep the Body.
-Carlic Hangs Above Her Bed.
-Jade Keeps the Rot Away.
-Key to Heaven, Key to Hell.
-Leviathan Swallows the Sun.
-Naked for Neptune.
-Nine Years, Nine Months.
-Quartz Begins the Initiation.
-Ravens at Her Bedroom Window.
-Rest Among the Touches.
-There are Voices in the Wind.
-Zodiac Machine.
June 17, 2020
Exquisite collection.
Favorites include:
A Match Made by the Devil
He was a touch of wicked.
She was a shot of whiskey.
He liked to spar.
She liked to burn...
Because he was a pinch of danger.
and she was a pint of hell.
Loving a Man Like That
Nothing will help you with a man like that. You can trust me. I know how he walks, how he moves through life, through people, and when a man like that whispers words with a poet's tongue, with a serpent's tongue, there is nothing for a woman to do but let down her veil and prepare her heart, for those words are nothing but poison-no matter how sweet they taste-and no matter how tempting he is in the beginning, eventually he will kill you.
Piece Her Back Together Again
When she started to fall apart, no one really noticed because
it was the hidden parts that disappeared first: her love,
her empathy, her compassion. She stopped feeling, stopped
wanting altogether, and before she knew it, old emotions slid
off her skin like rain on metal roofing.
Ultraviolet Prayer
Hail Mary, light me up. There's a sickness in my veins. I've
walked this life for a hundred years and I've swallowed the ashes,
I've burned in the flames.
These are just a few examples of the wonderful poems contained in this collection. They range from sublimely beautiful to bloody and creepy, but they're all haunting.
Favorites include:
A Match Made by the Devil
He was a touch of wicked.
She was a shot of whiskey.
He liked to spar.
She liked to burn...
Because he was a pinch of danger.
and she was a pint of hell.
Loving a Man Like That
Nothing will help you with a man like that. You can trust me. I know how he walks, how he moves through life, through people, and when a man like that whispers words with a poet's tongue, with a serpent's tongue, there is nothing for a woman to do but let down her veil and prepare her heart, for those words are nothing but poison-no matter how sweet they taste-and no matter how tempting he is in the beginning, eventually he will kill you.
Piece Her Back Together Again
When she started to fall apart, no one really noticed because
it was the hidden parts that disappeared first: her love,
her empathy, her compassion. She stopped feeling, stopped
wanting altogether, and before she knew it, old emotions slid
off her skin like rain on metal roofing.
Ultraviolet Prayer
Hail Mary, light me up. There's a sickness in my veins. I've
walked this life for a hundred years and I've swallowed the ashes,
I've burned in the flames.
These are just a few examples of the wonderful poems contained in this collection. They range from sublimely beautiful to bloody and creepy, but they're all haunting.
August 20, 2024
Absolutely adored this poetry collection. It's my first approach to Wytovich's work and I loved it, it's so dark and seductive, powerful, exuberant and feminine, full of electric rage while remaining deliciously velvety in its nightly embrace. I'd say it reflects on themes of madness, desire, death, violence, sex, loss and haunting, among many more, always from a feminine perspective. Just exquisite!
November 27, 2019
Still not feeling confident in rating poetry on a 5-star scale. So much of poetry is what you feel at the time you read it, especially for a collection like this one. A few stood out, but I had trouble focusing throughout - that's about me, not the author. Some days are just "off" days.
May 7, 2020
You can read my full review (and others) at mediadrome.wordpress.com/
Wytovich is a wonderful poet. This was my first experience with her work, but it certainly won’t be the last. I’m thinking I’ll pick up The Apocalyptic Mannequin next.
Wytovich is a wonderful poet. This was my first experience with her work, but it certainly won’t be the last. I’m thinking I’ll pick up The Apocalyptic Mannequin next.
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